WEB DESK / New Delhi

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), has condemned the storming of Al Aqsa mosque by Israeli police and described the act as a grave provocation that must be addressed immediately by the international community.

In a statement to the media, the JIH President Syed Sadatullah Hussaini said “We condemn the unprovoked storming of the first Qiblah of Muslims, the Holy Mosque of Al Aqsa by Israeli Police. It is reported that at least 178 Palestinian worshippers have been injured and 88 hospitalized at the Al Aqsa compound and other places in Jerusalem because of firing and violence unleashed by the Israelis. This condemnable act is especially despicable as it has occurred in the last days of Ramadan and it is directed at hurting the religious sentiments of the Muslims all over the world who hold the Al Aqsa Mosque in great reverence and esteem. We demand the international community including the United Nations to immediately address this incident and warn the Israeli government to desist from such acts and issue an official apology for the same. We also urge the government of India to condemn the incident, summon the Israeli Ambassador and issue a statement in this regard’.

Popular Front condemns the attack on Al Aqsa mosque

New Delhi: Popular Front of India Chairman O M A Salam has stated that the attack on Al Aqsa mosque by Israeli police is an act of terror. Israel’s hate for the Muslim holy place of Al Aqsa is not a hidden fact. The recent storming of the Al Aqsa Mosque is part of the larger Israeli aggression towards the Palestinians. The ongoing attempt by Israel to forcefully evict Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jerrah neighborhood is part of its genocidal project to wipe Palestinians off from Jerusalem.

Israel has opened a fresh wave of violence on Palestinian people despite international demand to end its ongoing illegal settlement and land grab. For the past few days, Israeli police and Jewish settlers have been trying to forcefully evict 40 Palestinian residents, including 10 children from their homes at Sheikh Jerrah neighborhood of Jerusalem. Palestinians and other activists who gathered there to break their Ramadan fasting in solidarity with the residents facing eviction were brutally attacked, and hundreds of them were injured in the violence.

Popular Front strongly condemns the inhuman violence and the attempt to forcefully evict hundreds of Palestinians from their homes. It is part of the larger Israeli settler-colonial project to wipe Palestinians off from the historic city that has been their home for thousands for years and replace it with Jewish settlers. The Jewish state does not have any genuine commitment to peace talks or respect for international law. Israeli actions constitute a war crime and crime against humanity and it poses a grave threat to peace in the region.

Popular Front urges the international community to abandon silence and take effective action to stop the violations of Apartheid Israel and Jewish Zionist groups against Palestinian people.

160 people injured when Israeli police clashed with Palestinians at Al-Aqsa mosque

WEB DESK

At least 160 people were injured when Israeli riot police clashed with Palestinians at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound late on Friday, capping a week of violence in the Holy City and the occupied West Bank.

Stones, bottles and fireworks were hurled at officers who fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at the crowds at Islam’s third-holiest site, also revered by Jews as the location of two biblical-era temples.

At least 163 Palestinians and six Israeli officers were reported wounded at Al-Aqsa and elsewhere in east Jerusalem, as the Palestinian Red Crescent said it had opened a field hospital because emergency rooms were full.

Police said officers had restored order following the “rioting of thousands of worshippers” after evening prayers.

Tensions in Jerusalem have soared in recent weeks as Palestinians have protested against Israel’s restrictions on access to parts of the Old City during the Muslim holy month of Ramzan, and after authorities ordered several Palestinian families to leave their homes to make way for Israeli settlers.

The United Nations had warned the forced evictions could amount to “war crimes”.

The U.S. called for “de-escalation”, later adding that the violence was “especially disturbing now, coming as it does on the last days of Ramzan”.